Features

When people and clients talk of the importance of lawyers who bring shop floor experience to their work, they do not come much truer than those of Qasim Ali. Growing up working in his parents’ convenience store in central Scotland means he understands the dedication that it takes to run a succ

Machiavelli wrote something to the effect that people ‘dislike enterprises where the snags are evident’. That throwaway line from the Master may be recalled when attempting to review this excellent and wide-ranging biography of Neil MacCormick personally or his intellectual achievements.

A contract law bill has reached its final parliamentary stage, bringing renewed focus to proposed reforms on contract formation and the law of retention, writes Camilla Horneman. In November of last year, we wrote about the Contract (Formation and Remedies) (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to t

Ministers promised action on spiralling premiums. The result has been silence – and higher bills, writes Thomas Mitchell. The average cost of comprehensive car insurance in the UK is now £726 according to Confused.com, the well-known price comparison website. Post pandemic, we saw prices

Anyone who followed the 2026 Winter Olympics will probably have noted the cheating controversy in curling in the men’s game: Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson accused Canada’s Mark Kennedy of deliberately double-touching his stones, writes Benjamin Bestgen. For those unfamiliar, curling is a

Liam McArthur’s bill cannot include any effective protection for those who wish to opt out of involvement in ‘assisted dying’. Professional bodies must now formally oppose it, writes Dr Mary Neal. It was reported this week that several organisations representing the health professi

Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, reflects on the situation in Ukraine ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion tomorrow. Tomorrow, 24 February, marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Strikes on homes, schools, hospitals, and ener

Joe Warren, building consultancy partner at Knight Frank, looks ahead to the EPC changes coming into effect later in the year. There are lots of legislative and regulatory difference between Scotland and the rest of the UK. But perhaps one of the most misunderstood differences in property has been t

The oldest law firm in Ayrshire has begun celebrating its 150th anniversary. A series of special events during 2026 will mark a century-and-a-half of Lockharts Law, whose history can be traced to a humble room in Ayr’s Wellington Square when John Lockhart began representing the official b

It is 1831 and the good people of Cromarty are setting up a circulating library. A list of suggested titles is purchased, read, handed to the next book club member on the list and then they are discussed… well, not very often as this intricate tale of books, romances, relationships, politics,

The Scottish government is considering whether the age at which young people may marry or register a civil partnership should be raised from 16 years old to 18. Writing for Scottish Legal News, Professor Elaine E Sutherland argues that how Scots law addressed the capacity and responsibility of child

The Scottish government’s planned exemptions from rent control measures within the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025 signal a more stable and investable landscape for developers, investors and funders, offering a timely catalyst for boosting housing supply across Scotland, write Russell Munro and Pa

Mahbooba Faiz, an Afghan-born lawyer based in Ireland, uncovers the detail of the Taliban's new diktat on criminal procedure. After nearly four years of legislative opacity and rule by decree, on 4 January 2026, the Taliban issued a new legal document in the Pashto language titled the “Crimina

The Einstein murders were listed as number 2,550 of the total of 5,884 incidents in the Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. The place of the crimes was the Villa Il Focardo, 15 miles southeast of Florence, in 1944. German soldiers arrived at the home of Robert Einstein and his family. He w

John MacLaren Barclay (1811-1886) – Hugh Barclay (1799–1884), LLD, Sheriff Substitute Credit: Perth Art Gallery